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Graduate Student Mentor

Julien Leclerc
Julien Leclerc
School/Affiliation University of Houston, ECE, Robotic Swarm Control Lab
Major Electrical Engineering
Expected Graduation Date Dec 2013
Biosketch My primary background is electrical engineering, applied electromagnetics and superconductivity. I started studying superconductivity during my Master’s internship, in 2010, at the CEA of Saclay in France (Center of Research for Atomic Energy). I developed, built, and tested a magnetometer to measure the first critical field of superconducting materials at 1.8 K. I started a Ph.D. in 2010 at the GREEN laboratory (Group of Research in Electrical Engineering of Nancy) of the University of Lorraine (France). My thesis is titled “Methods and tools for electric and magnetic characterization of High-temperature superconductors.” I developed and tested two new methods of characterization aiming to obtain relevant magnetic characteristics for the design of practical superconducting applications. After obtaining my Ph.D., I joined the team of Dr. Philippe Masson at the Department Of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Houston. I worked on the design of an experiment to test YBCO superconducting racetrack coils at 30 K in self-field conditions. The experiment allowed us to test these coils for current value up to 700 A. At the same time, I developed a tool to estimate the AC losses in superconducting filaments subjected to an AC transport current and an elliptical magnetic field. I currently work as a research associate in the Robotic Swarm Control Laboratory at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the University of Houston. My researches focus on the magnetic actuation of millirobots. The goal is to perform the navigation of millirobots inside human blood vessels to perform minimally invasive surgery. This technology could enable less invasive surgeries and improve patient outcomes.

Contact Information

REU Program Director
University of Houston
Cullen College of Engineering
Engineering Building 1, Room N207
4226 Martin Luther King Boulevard
Houston, TX 77204-4006
Fax: 713-743-4503
Email: reu_brain [at] egr.uh.edu (reu_brain[at]egr[dot]uh[dot]edu) (Neurotechnologies to Help the Body Move, Heal and Feel Again)

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) award #2150415 (REU site), #2137255 (IUCRC BRAIN REU Supplement), and #1827769 (PFI REU Supplement).
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed in this materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.

The University of Houston is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action institution.
Minorities, women, veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.